1GB Compact Flash Media Roundup. Part II. Page 3

Today we are going to test five new CompactFlash memory cards with 1GB storage capacity. We will check their performance when working via USB 2.0 as well as via the FireWire interface in a number of new benchmarks and practical situations. Find out which CompactFlash card in the $200+ range is the best today!

PQI Hi-Speed CompactFlash Card

PQI Hi-Speed CompactFlash Card

We have already told you a little bit about the flash card from PQI in one of our previous articles. This time it should become a certain bridge between the past and the present, as we completely changed the testing methodology for this type of devices. Although the package acquired new design since then (the card is now shipped in a paper box). Besides the card in a plastic case there is also a brief user’s guide. The Hi-Speed product line from PQI includes cards with 64MB-1GB storage capacity. The approximate pricing of this solution is $228.

Testbed and Methods

In order to evaluate the features of the tested CompactFlash cards in real conditions and to compare them with one another we decided to apply extended testing scheme. This time we will check the solutions performance for today’s two competing interfaces: USB 2.0 and FireWire. For our benchmarks we used the following software tests:

FC-Test version 0.5.3;

IOMark version 0.30b14;

SiSoftware Sandra Professional 2003.7.9.73.

Besides the above listed programs I also tested the cards with the help of Canon EOS D60 digital camera, to be able to evaluate their practical advantages in real life.

For the benchmarking session we involved the following testbed:

ASUS P4P800 mainboard;

Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz CPU;

Western Digital WD400BB HDD;

ATI Radeon 9500 graphics card;

256MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM;

Windows XP with Service Pack 1.0.

In order to make the cards work via the USB 2.0 interface we used Transcend 7 in 1 card reader, which was connected to the port integrated into the mainboard. The tests with FireWire interface were carried out with the help of a noname IEEE1394 reader connected to the combo USB 2.0/FireWire PCO controller based on NEC 720100/Agere FW322 chips.